By Troy Feldpausch
troygoal@iCloud.com
December 26, 2014
When the Lions took Eric Ebron with the 10th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, most Lions fans were left scratching their heads over the pick. “Is TE really THAT glaring of a need that we need to use a top 10 pick on one?” seemed to be the common question. I mean, they already had a dominant blocking TE (TM Matt Shepard) in Brandon Pettigrew and a red zone threat in Joseph Fauria (7 TDs in 2014).
But, when the pick was made, fans were immediately spoon-fed that Ebron was going to be a “Jimmy Graham-type player” in Joe Lombardi’s offense.
“He’s going to stretch the field,” they said.
“He’s a matchup nightmare,” they claimed.
Like most Lions fans, I had not seen even one game that Ebron played at North Carolina, so I did a little digging to see what kind of player he was.
Here is what Greg Cosell, senior editor of NFL Films, had to say about Ebron after the draft:
“He’s extremely athletic. If you just look at his touchdown against the University of Miami, a 71-yard touchdown, he caught a 10-yard pass and outran the secondary. You saw him run what’s hugely viewed as wide receiver routes – skinny posts, vertical seams and crossers. He ran bubble screens as well. He’s a movement guy and I’m sure when (the Lions) got to that point in the draft he was probably the highest rated guy on their board and they saw him as a guy who would take their offense to a higher level.”
Here’s my take: When Khalil Mack, Sammy Watkins, Mike Evans, Justin Gilbert and Anthony Barr all went before the Lions pick at #10 and they couldn’t find a trade partner, they panicked and went back to their Millen-esque drafting of the “Best Player Available”. Problem is: Was he the best player available? Hindsight is always 20/20 and clearly the answer now is “NO!”, but let’s take a peek at his draft notes:
“Could stand to play with more consistent intensity and focus. Makes the occasional concentration drop. Ordinary touchdown production. Can be loud, boisterous and overly egotistical, which will rub some people the wrong way.”
YEAH!! Let’s take THAT guy at #10.
So instead of a guy who could stretch the field and create matchup nightmares for teams, we’re stuck with a guy who is being trumpeted for his BLOCKING!!! Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press even went so far as to write an ENTIRE ARTICLE about Eric Ebron’s blocking prowess. I am not making this up.
http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2014/12/23/detroit-lions-eric-ebron-blocking/20796689/
This article has been Tweeted out by Dave Birkett, of all people. The one Lions’ beat writer I can stand.
Heck, even in Jim Caldwell’s press conference, when the coach was asked if he was “disappointed” in Eric Ebron and HIS ZERO CATCHES AND ZERO TARGETS IN THE 15TH GAME OF THE SEASON, he responded:
“No, did you watch him block this weekend? Did you take a look at the film? He was effective, tough, hard-nosed,” Caldwell said Monday. “He did a lot of good things. He might not have caught passes and ran down the field, but no, I’m not disappointed.
Hey Jim, no, I didn’t “watch the tape”, but what I did do was read Carlos’ article. In that piece, even HE points out that Eric Ebron is 6’4” and 265 pounds. The guy he blocked? Tim Jennings. Yep…Tim Jennings, the cornerback for the Bears who is 5’8” and 185 pounds. Eric Ebron is 8 inches taller and outweighs a guy by 80 pounds and we’re supposed to congratulate him on this block? The other great part of the article was Carlos’ mentioning that Ebron was 2nd in this vaunted rookie TE class with 23 catches and 3rd with 210 yards. More on that later.
The prior week, all we heard about after another thrilling 1 catch, 11 yard performance against the Vikings was Ebron’s block that sprung Golden Tate for the Lions only touchdown. Ya know whom that block was on? Vikings safety Andrew Sendejo, whom Ebron barely hovers over by 3 inches and outweighs by 40 pounds. Did he pancake block Willie Young? Did he put Jared Allen down on the ground? Heck no!! But he sure can block guys that he outweighs by an average of 60 pounds!
Hey Jim, I didn’t watch the tape, but I did do a little digging on the Internet and discovered that Eric Ebron has the fewest receiving yards by a WR/TE that was a top-ten pick since Darius Heyward-Bey in 2009.Yep, the Darius Heyward-Bey that was taken by the Raiders before Jeremy Maclin, Percy Harvin, Mike Wallace, Clay Matthews, B.J. Raji and Brian Orakpo, to name a few.
I won’t go into the multitude of players whom that the Lions could have taken in the draft at #10. I mean, it’s not like there were other offensive options available for them. http://mmqb.si.com/2014/11/27/best-rookie-receiver-class-ever/
Problem is, this team has been burned so many times by drafting WRs not named Calvin Johnson that they will probably never draft another WR in the top 10 in any of our lifetimes. I mean, if I drafted Charles Rogers, Roy Williams, Mike Williams, Derrick Williams, Titus Young and Ryan Broyles in the first 3 rounds, I might not take that route again, either. I mean, can you imagine if the Lions had taken Odell Beckham, Jr. at #10 and then he missed all of the preseason and the first four games of the regular season? It would have made the Millen Man March seem tame by comparison.
Instead, let’s only focus only on the other TE options that the Lions could have drafted LATER ON IN THE DRAFT if TE was such a glaring need (which it wasn’t). Let’s look at how Ebron’s stats compare to the other SUPERSTAR TEs that were in this draft class and whom he’s second to in catches, 3rd to in touchdown receptions and 3rd to in yards.
Ebron – 12 games – 23 catches/210 yards/1 TD/Long play of 17 yards
Austin Seferian-Jenkins – TB – Taken with the 38th pick, or nearly a full round AFTER Eric Ebron. Here are his stats before getting being placed on IR on December 15th. His QB for most of the year? Josh McCown 9 games – 21 catches/221 yards/2 TDs/ Long play of 30 yards
Jace Amaro – NYJ – Taken with the 49th pick and burdened with having Geno Smith and Michael Vick as his QBs. 13 games – 35 catches/311 yards/2 TD/Long play of 43 yards.
Richard Rodgers – GB – TAKEN WITH THE 98TH PICK 15 games – 15 catches/185 yards/2 TD/Long play of 43 yards
I have no idea if any of these guys are good at blocking cornerbacks, though.